The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I am a 35 year old hard core hunting fanatic that happens to think scents and calls are for suckers!! I have read books, watched tapes and tried just about every type of call and scent, only to find out that they are all the same. They work to an extent, but I have never killed a mature buck while using them. My theory to killing mature bucks is to hunt where they frequent and blend into the surroundings as if you were not even there. After all, if a deer scenses no danger, he will follow his every day routine. Add a scent or call to the area and you have just tipped him off as to your location, which gives him an un-needed advantage!!!

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I think I agree with you to a certain extent, actually. I' d say that calls, particularly, work in a setting more like turkey or elk hunting, where you' re trying to locate and/or pull in an animal that does more traveling. In that respect, the rut in a very densely (animal) populated area could prove a good place to work with calls. You' re telling an actively roaming animal that there' s something he should check out.

On the other hand, if you' re hunting a secretive big ol' boy from down in the swamp, you need to put yourself along his normal daily routine and keep quiet! :)

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I also agree with you to a point. The one thing to remember is that these things need to be used properly. Using scent at the wrong time can actually spook deer, using a call improperly can spook deer. If they are used correctly and not over done they can be helpfull. It depends on where you hunt, what size the herd is, which way the wind is blowing, along with 100 other variations. I do get a kick out of these wannabe woodsmen that go into wal-mart and buy every call and every scent that is on the shelf.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin 450;

I agree with you whole heartedly. Most scents work only during the rut - which if you are a gun hunter only, you more than likely will NOT get to participate in.

I do find that cover scents that are like the places you hunt, work well - ie. leaf scent smells like the leaves and humas that is on the ground. I think much of what we see in scents is directly associated to marketing schemes.

Far and away I think you are absolutley correct in blending into the area. I think the best measure of a deer hunter is when he leaves the field (successful or not) and the deer don' t even know he were there. The best hunters I know all believe and practice this also.

By the way - do any of you guys use gilly suits for deer hunting? I would appreciate your honest thoughts. I am looking for BOTH pro and con, so PLEASE post.

Good hunting to you all.

Dave

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Rattling and grunting is my favorite tactic to use to increase my odds, There is nothing like the feeling you get when you either see a buck that is out of range and there is no chance he is going to come within bow range and you coax him to change his mind and he turns and heads right for your stand only to stop once again just out of bow range and then either coaxing him to continue into range or have him turn and decide to walk away ( regardless off the final outcome its very exciting). Or when Im blind calling and all the sudden the silence is broken and a furious buck is rushing in to see who the imposter is. To date I have harvested 7 bucks that I consider shooter' s from calling and Im positive i wouldnt have harvested any of those 7 if i didnt take my grunt tube or horns into the woods with me. Pike

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

And if the rut crazed buck is slipping by you at 50 yds are you going to wave goodbye to him or pull out the rattle bag / grunt / can, and try to pull him in.

I know what I would do:D

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Rack Attack, if you pull out the rattle bag ( which in my opinion sounds nothing like a real deer battle) or whip out the grunt tube, you may get lucky enough to get him to stop or turn and seek you out, but if you spook him and he catches a bit of your scent while he is sneeking off, he may never return to the area during daylight hours again that season. If you let him pass, he may just sneek down that trail again in a few days and give you a shot. I have been in that scenerio a few times and have had the buck react by circiling down wind and busting me, or they stop after I call and do not move for what seems like 10 or 15 minuates, so I call again thinking it is working and he pinpoints the sound, catches some movement (which is bound to happen when your trying to rattle or blow into a tube) and sneaks or runs off. My point is simple, if he does not know that you are there and you are patient enough to wait him out, your chances at killing that buck in the near future are better than if you take a chance because you got a little too excited (which also can tip the odds to his advantage)!!

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Jpike, I am glad that it works for you on what you consider shooter bucks, but I am talking about mature bucks (3 1/2 to 5 1/2 years or older) How many of them have you killed with your scents and calls??

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I agree to some extent. I rifle hunt and have been very successful, but I have never used any scents or calls. This coming season I am going to grt a grunt call, take an old set of antlers, and give ratteling a try. I don' t think I will use any scents though; I am just not sold on their effectiveness.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Ruger1, you and your friends are way ahead of the game, keep up the great tactics!! As for Gilly suits, I think they have too much stuff hanging off them that can make shooting a bow tuff and cause extra movement to be detected. They sure do look like the answer, but I think that the key to blending in is to limit your movements too almost zero. I have hunted in blaze orange for over 20 years during rifle season and killed plenty of good bucks at 50 yards or less and I am sold on the fact that limited, slow movements and scent control will play a big role in killing deer!!

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin 450;

Thanks for the comments. Like you we have hunted in full blase orange for years, and have really had little problem getting close to deer. I was asking about the gilly suits mainly for handgun hunting. It seem to me the little movements at very close range could be effectively covered by the gilly suit. We in the past have had does all around us - and we like that because they will eventually draw in the Big Boys. Many times you have to set with the does for many hours, the suit would seem to make it more ' comfortable' because it could hide the smaller movements and the movement of setting up the handgun for the shot.

I' m just fishin' here. I' ve got the stuff to make the suit but I' m still not fully convinced that it is going to be worth the time and effort. We hunt alot of open area in western Kansas - and I was thinking maybe it could provide a liitle extra cover.

Thanks.

Dave

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin, I have harvested 3 bucks from calling that were 3.5 years of age or older, and called a total of 6 into bow range, 2 of them within 15 yards. One of them I called back in 4 times over a 2 hour period but he never gave me a broadside or quartering away shot, always facing me, the second buck, I called into 40 yards and he stopped and stayed for 15 minutes, when he finally decided to come the rest of the way he walked right under my stand but it was too late and also too dark to shoot. The third buck was comming straight in until he saw the new decoy I bought the day before and made a sharp turn to his right and walked to within 3 ft. of it, completely broadside 20 yards infront of me but there was a tree completely blocking his vitals, he stood there for a couple of minutes before he rammed it and took off running. The other 4 bucks I harvested were 2.5 year' s old including the buck I shot last year in my first year hunting in OH. The problem isnt calling mature bucks in my area, its finding a buck that is 2.5 years of age or older, here in my area, we harvest 80% of our 1.5 year old bucks.(Until this past year anyway). If calling works here, with the tremendous bow and rifle hunting preasure and also our out of wack buck to doe ratio I think it will work anywhere. Pike

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I respectfully disagree:). I am sure that on the public land I hunt on, your best odds of making it happen are right there and right then. If I have a shooter in eyesight my best chances of taking him are now, and I will do all I can to do so. I have called more than a few mature bucks into bow range, some blind and some after they were seen.

I do agree however that overuse and improper use will do more damage than good. I am not a big scent user, and I for the most part use calls as a last resort to a skirting buck. But I wouldn' t pass them off as trash or gimmicks so quickly. They can be very effective in certain areas and at certain times. They have filled more than one tag for me.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I agree the location and cover is the key to hunting mature deer. I also agree by calling you can give the deer your location. However if you limit your calling and if he' s coming let him come, if he stops why would you call...only call when he looks to become uninterested. It only stands to reason if he is stopped and at full alert the chances are much higher of being picked off. The use of calls and scents in the areas you mentioned, provided you know what your doing, what phase the deer are in and where the deer will travel, bed and loop around can be very effective. I have used scents in combination with rattling and had lots of success. I don' t use the scent as an attractant however but rather as a cover to the circling downwind buck. The instructions on a bottle of scent goes completely against my way of hunting. So I place my sent in a half moon around my location " Downwind" , not upwind like they suggest. This helps throw off my scent when the big boys cirlce the ranch. I also use calls in combo with rattling & I never blind call unless rattling! While rattling, calling or scent will never produce 100% of the time, it still remains to experienced hunter a great advantage.

You posed the question about mature deer. I won' t get into numbers, age, etc. but I will say I use the technique faithfully and only harvest mature bucks and consider myself a trophy hunter. So I disagree it can' t be done on mature deer, it ain' t easy but harvesting a mature deer never is!!!!!;)

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Rack Attack, I agree when there is a shooter in sight but out of bow range, there is no better time to try to harvest him then the present!!

Skeeter, I agree that when you have a buck hold up 40 yards out, the worst thing you could do is try to call him in further, I call it " The who ever speaks or moves first loses period" when this happens I wount move a muscle I will wait for him to make the first move, If he starts to come in further I let him come as far as he wants to on his own, no matter how long it takes him, The only time I will hit the grunt tube is after he turns and starts to walk in the direction he came from before I start to call to him again. One other thing I forgot to mention is I will not hunt a stand or area more tham 2 or 3 times a season. Even without calling a mature buck will pattern you if you over hunt a stand even if you take every precaution in the book. Pike

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Skeeter, I guess that after 10 or 15 minuates of him just standing there, I thought that he needed a little coaxing or he stopped just because he heard something and was not sure what!!
I guess that if you are hunting an area that has a lot of competition, the calls may work, but I have had guys from Alabama, New York, Massachusettes, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio here hunting with me and I have yet to see a Mature Buck killed with a call or with the use of scents.
Last year I had 2 guys that bet me they could kill a buck with scents and calls, because they do it all the time in Massachusettes. They went home empty handed and saw 2 deer total, a doe and a 4 point.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Jpike, I agree that over hunting a stand will screw you for sure. I am a tracker by nature, but I guide 10 to 16 hunters per season and try to move them around to different spots during the week, but I have had great luck sitting them 3 days straight in the same spot.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Rugar,the gilly suits work great during all seasons EXCEPT bow season,to much to get in the way.The " leafy" suits work with a good arm guard,been useing mine for years.As for calls,it depends on how much you want to put in to it.I only use a " true talker" and if you can learn to " play" it it works great.If you want to use a cheap grunt noise maker,well you get what you payed for .Scents have worked for me during the rut and I love the fresh earth scents for cover scents.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin, I mentioned I use calling & scents when I rattle. Are you referring to rattling as part of the call technique or just the grunt tube, doe bleat? I am just curious, b/c although I believe in the grunt tube, I would never try and use it alone for luring in a muture deer! I use all three attracants if you will and obviously only in the right phase. I never use scents or calls alone, only when rattling and when I absolutely know the area in which I am hunting. If it is fresh territory or other times in the year (such as early pre rut or post rut) I believe stealth is the best mode.

I agree Buck to Doe ratio factors in to the success rattling will bring. As I stated it isn' t 100% foolproof and I spent many hours of nothing, before finally finding success through this method. Know I will say you must adapt to your area and play the cards that work out to win the hand...so yes the technique is not for everyone but I can say it does work on mature deer in my neck of the woods.

Pike, excellent point...I agree 100%. Something else to add if you choose to rattle success is often much higher the deeper and closer you get to the bucks bedroom. Keeping this in mind, it is absolutely essential to only hunt a given stand or location with the right wind. A marginal wind will kill your efforts and most likely your stand!

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Hi Ruger 1 ,
I own 2 ghillie suits , one leaf cut and a bush rag . They are definiely the ultimate in concealment . The Military bush rag style isn' t reccomended for warm days since all that burlap insulates pretty well . It also tends to get in the way of bowstrings unless trimmed .The leaf cut is very good on most terrain , and not nearly as warm . As with all camo , movement can still give away your position , but the ghillie hides it best . It is adaptable to almost any terrain , even in the field in the case of the bush rag . If you don' t feel like designing your own , sportsmansguide.com has bush rag kits for $35 in the Military surplus section right now . I paid $80 for mine . The leaf cut is also carried by them for about $80 . [8D]

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I will bet that if you take a poll on hunters that kill Mature ( 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 year old) deer, the majority would go to traditional tactics and without the use of scents and calls. I know that here in Maine, calls and scents do work, but I can count one hand the amount of times I have heard someone tell me they killed thier Big Buck while using a call or scent. I also would be willing to bet that anyone in this forum that knows people or is a person that regularly kills mature bucks, the top answer would be without the use of them.
Yes, scents and calls do work, but I am sold on the fact that they are not the answer if you want to cosistantly kill Mature Deer!!
Go ahead and blow your calls and use your scents, I am sure that the companys that make them are laughing all the way to the bank while us traditional hunters are piling up the big boys without them!!;)

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin,a closed mind is a terrible thing to waste.I hope I never stop learning and I' ve hunted almost as long as you' ve been alive.Wait till I tell you about smoke sticks!!

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Well you can build a house without a hammer its just a little harder thats all.I can tell by Marlins posts that hes pretty much closed his mind to these tools but to the rest of you maybe I can make some suggestions." The trouble with scents and calls" ,I would reply theres NO trouble with scents and calls only in choosing the RIGHT ones and USING them properly.I have found that those the most vocal about scents and calls not working have merely had poor success with them theirselves and among their group.When used with " scents" (pun) they work as intended and can help tilt the odds of a mature buck in your favor.Rattling - I use REAL heavy beamed deer horns with the brow tines removed for comfort and sealed well to prevent dampness from penetrating and giving them that " dead" sound.I rattle ONCE real hard for about 45 seconds and then put them away,if you keep rattling on and off the bucks can pinpoint your location better and most bucks don' t fight for a while and then stop only to fight again in a few minutes.The bucks will come in on high alert and 90% of the time if mature will CIRCLE your position to scent check from downwind to identify the bucks fighting.Backing up to a river,steep embackment,open field,flowage,or something to impede or prevent the buck from getting downwind will greatly raise your success rate.Positioning a shooter 100yds down wind is also an excellant way to captilize on this downwind movement of the buck.Scent-loc,no-scent products(soap,sprays,deoderants,cover scents)will help as well as staying 15 feet or higher in a tree stand,it will make it harder for a buck to scent you or see movement as you prepare for a shot.Scents - I have found only one scent brand that works all the time and does not spook mature bucks with its use,James Valley scents made in gel form from a trapper in the Dakotas with a COMBINATION of glands,musks,and urine used according to his rather detailed and specific instructions.I believe straight urine has too short of a shelf life and breaks down to ammonia too quickly.Keep the scent in a GLASS container and except when you are starting a mock scrape or freshening a real one take the scent into your area to hunt and seal up and take it out with you.The bucks get used to a scent left out on the ground and quickly loose any interest in it,once the bucks start to hit a doctored scrape stop going near it and let them do the scenting.Wall Hanger or Full Rut seems to be his best.Using scent NEAR not in bedding areas will work the best and fooling with scrapes out near the edge of fields where the bucks stage at night before feeding is usually not very productive.All techniques will work far better if employed close to doe bedding areas and thick buck travel routes.Calls - I use a simple grunt call with NO buttons or tone changers just a good low grunt,I picked it out of about a half dozen grunts and have used it for years.3-6 low tending grunts and thats all for an hour or so,overcalling is far worse than undercalling.Grunts used before or right after rattling also can add to effectiveness.They will come in equally alert as with rattling and will often attempt to circle downwind be forewarned.Now my favorite and most successful calling technique,estrous doe bleats with a bleat can.Three bleats and than quiet for a 1/2 hour or more,the bucks come in more relaxed and will often come straight in with less circling.This technique can be DEADLY close to bedding areas at mid day!With any calling technique it can take a mature buck up to an hour or more to respond,thats how they got to be mature,be patient.All of these techniques can work by themselves or when used in combination with each other,they don' t work everytime and nothing does with mature bucks.They are tools that all help to reach your goal of seeing and shooting a mature shooter buck for your given hunting area.Less pressured areas the bucks are exposed to less man produced scents and calling and will respond better to these tricks in shooting light.I have hunted in Maine for 39 years and last fall called in four bucks three of which were mature cagey public land bucks of which my son and I shot two.I don' t view calls and scents as replacements for shooting or hunting skills and I don' t rely on them completely without scouting and setting up well in advance(Aug)with my stands and always being in funnels and near to bedding areas where big bucks are moving,you have to be where they are to get their attention.Hope some of these tips help,I' ve been a long time learning some of them.Don' t give up on scents till you try James Valley(hes a trapper and used to fooling animals with excellant noses)and use your calls sparingly,they work better when not overused.Rattling is a discourging method as it will lure in many bucks you' ll never see that circle and then often blow and let every buck around know theres danger, but try the backdrops suggested and keep experimenting!Good Hunting!

woods

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

woodseye;

Lots of info in that post, Good job!!

Dave

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Woodseye great post,but one small disagreement.To me the best call I use all season long is the doe grunt(why I like " true talker" ).After all,all deer have a mother and the best way to calm them down is the doe grunt.Who wouldn' t belive dear Ol' Mom.
During the rut you are right on the money!!Do I hear call makers laughing?

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

FlDeerman,I agree with your statement " all season long" for the doe grunt.I hunt the month of November up here and thats late pre-rut and full-rut,at this time I want to draw a buck thats already looking for an estrous doe and the estrous bleat can fills the bill perfectly with the sounds of a doe looking for Male company.We can only shoot one deer up here, so I am focused on bucks and I don' t find a doe contact grunt to be as effective as the estrous bleat for drawing out wary bucks right in the peak rut period.If I bowhunted the month earlier I would probably add a doe grunt to my tools but for when I hunt(rut) and what I want to shoot(mature buck) the bleat can and some tending grunts are the sounds I want to make.Good Point though as early season requires different calls and scents to be realistic and have success attracting deer.


woods

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Woodseye, I am not closed minded, I am just trying to make the point that scents and calls only give the deer the edge as to where you are. You know as well as I do that they do not need an edge any sharper than they have already.
How many times can you count on one hand, the amount of times last season that a mature buck came within a kill shots distance from you personally (while calling)?
Now, how many times have you had deer skirt around you while calling?
How about not showing at all?
Most important, how many did you kill last season that were in the 3 1/2 to 5 year old range??

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Yeah I believe you have made up your mind on calls and scents and started your post to make that point.I agree to disagree with your opinions and use all hunting tools to take my bucks up here and they all work depending on the particular circumstances.To answer your questions - I called two mature bucks and one spike in last year within shooting range in full sight.I shot a 196# 8 pointer myself and my boy shot a 10 pointer.I had one other buck that I' m aware of that stopped right before he came into view and caught our scent when the wind shifted.We shot two deer that were 3 1 /2 or older last year.Yes of course a call lets the buck know something is in the area but when they come in to check it out if you are using scent control and stand location to your best advantage you have a definite edge that comes from scouting and studying the buck movements in your area.I see and shoot more mature bucks by using calls and scents than when I used to simply hunt in a non aggressive manner sitting or stillhunting.You have your opinion and I have mine,but I get results and would never change my hunting techniques from what works so well,if it ain' t broke don' t fix it!

woods

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Woodseye, if you are getting that kind of results in Maine, go with the flow. I hunt Central Maine mostly and know very few people that regularly kill mature bucks with calls and scents. I gave artificial lures up after I realized that tracking deer produced much better results. Maybe I just plain suck at using scents and calls, but you are one of very few people I have talked to from Maine that claim that they have an edge with them. Either you are full of it or you are going to be the next Jay Gregory, either way, good luck this season!!

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin 450

Where about in central maine do you hunt? I also hunt in central maine, I was just wondering if you were close to where i am. thanks:D

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin,I strongly suggest that you try a " true talker" but only with the video.If you can' t find the video e-mail me and we will work out how I can make you a copy.If you' ve ever tried to call turkeys,it' s the same principle.Practice,practice,practice.It' s not a cure all but a great tool.It helped me convince a yearling doe that my decoy was a real deer,so it bedded down next to it.I have a bow season call that will bring in bucks and does,I' m not really sure why but it works.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Yes I hunt central Maine,and yes I shoot bucks only and yes I don' t always get the nice mature ones I want.Good Luck to you also and its going to be a good year as there was good winter survival despite the cold and snow.I' m not full of it or I wouldn' t post a link to pics of deer I' ve shot on my posts.I take deer hunting very serious up here and always have.I just use all the available tools and techniques I can and then do massive amounts of pre and post season scouting, spotting during the summer, and run three game cams into the fall.My scent control techniques border on insane and stand placement near not in bedding areas and funnels are critical to the plan.My mentor and teacher was Fred Goodwin the antler man up in silver ridge thats had write ups in deer and deer hunting and north american whitetail.

Best Regards
woods

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

You dont need them , but there are times when they sure help! I would probably guess that if you' ve tried them all to no avail and you think their all the same then your doing something wrong. I wont enter the woods without my grunt call especially during prime rut. As for scents for bucks , I use them on scrapes every year with great success.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Woodseye, nice buck!! I agree that the winter was tough, but I am seeing alot of healthy looking deer around. I will be hunting near Ashland this year and will be dedicating all my efforts on tracking if we get some snow. In the last 5 years I have either still hunted or tracked deer and have seen and passed on more bucks than I care to mention. I have been spoiled early in my hunting years with trophy fever and cant shake it. I think a lot of it has to do with a Mastic Buck I killed 3 years ago. I have set my standards pretty high and now I am looking for that Silver Ridge Buck ( I am sure you know what I mean)!!

take care,
Marlin

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

LittleRhody, I hunt around Palermo, China and Albion mostly, but have some sweet hunting ground that is always good for 1 or 2, 150 to 170 class bucks every year.
How about you, where do you hunt?

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I' m also not really sold on store bought scents but there are alternatives. I will go to a friends deer cooler and cut the tarsal glands off a buck and hang it down wind of my stand have had bucks circle around to try to get downwind of it. As for calls I haven' t had much luck blind calling here in georgia but have turned a few bucks that were going away from me to bring them back and wont go in the woods without a grunt tube

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

I hunt in a quite desolate area and will never use scent until the first week of Nov (rut just getting going). Doe bleats early in the year...very discretly will occasionaly work, and what I have seen will not spook deer out of an area. Come the rut though, they can be very vocal and will respond.

Last bow season (Nov 9) I shot a nice, somewhat nontypical 10 point. I had a canister of tinks 69 in front of me hanging in a tree and a doe came in from my right. She milled around under me when she quickly looked behind me and I slowly peered over my right shoulder and I saw the top of a rack and a big body. She finally walked straight away in front of me. I tipped my " can" one long bleat and two short ones, then instantly gave a long low grunt. I didn' t even finish the grunt and I heard a few twigs snap over my left shoulder. Slowly turned and there he was about 15 years peering back and forth then made a scrape then quickly rubbed a tree. A few more steps after stopping under my tree and he was mine. Granted, there was a doe that he was parreleling, but I truely beleive the look in his eyes (beleive me I saw it) told me that he was pi$$ed looking for a buck taking his little hottie away from him.

During the rifle season, late November last year, I had a medium size 8 milling around a doe in a clear cut and I wasn' t sure if he was a shooter, but thought not, but what the heck....I grunted once and he never looked. Gave another LOUD grunt (he was a good 150 yards away) and snapped his head right up. One more medium sound grunt and he took off on a rope. He jumped a big fallen tree, started trotting right towards me after breaking through some ice and tripping once or twice. When he got to about 40 yards he stopped and just started looking back and forth. He started walking right towards me and ducked under a fallen tree and locked in on me at about 12-15 yards...his eyes opened like two big pieces of coal and he knew he was busted....he crashed back a few bounds then wandered back to follow the doe out of sight.

So do grunts work....I think so. But only use discretely. Peak of the rut, or if you need to get his attention or stop a potential brute getting out of sight.

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin, I in no way would put all my apples in one basket, while calling/rattling has produced for me, so has still hunting, cutting tracks, spot & stalk or sitting being stealthy. I have a buddy who hunts the same area and has the same trophy mind set as me, however he wouldn' t dream of rattling come rut. I on the other hand would not step into the woods without my 4x4 set of horns that time of year. All in all we both have taken great bucks and I would say very even in numbers/size as well over the years. Different methods each achieving similar results, who is to say which is the best way!!! I certainly can' t argue with his past success nor can he with mine. I do know that if you look back at the responses of those who use the calling with success, they all have a similar pattern (how, when, what, where). I am not saying you can' t answer these question, but I bet your like my bud, he doesn' t care to mess with his success. More power to you and all hunters which ever way you choose to chase the almighty " Big Buck" . I can bet their are many days our bag of tricks and think tanks have came up dry and we have all wondered will anything work or go right for me this year;).

Good Hunting Boys & Gals[8D]

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

Marlin 450

My uncle has a small place in freedom, It' s at the end of palermo road where palermo and 137 meet, So I do alot of my hunting in the bog around there. I also hunt off of palermo road, and rt 137, and around freedom pond. I go into Albion alot to do my shoping and get some lumber, I forget the name of the store, You should know it. I drive down bog road alot, I want to stop and hunt but to many trucks on the side of the road. I dont know the area that great because I usually drive up from R.I with my uncle and he' s in his 60' s and likes to stay around his place, But the few times i have taken my truck I' ll drive around alot, love to get out and see new places. I would like to hunt some fields in the evening, Maybe you could point me in the right direction :D[:-]

RE: The trouble with scents & calls!!
 

He He He yeah,breaking the MASTIC barrier will do some strange things to ya sometimes, but they are " good" strange things lol.Good Hunting in the " county" up north and only follow the tracks that are at least 2 1/4" wide :)They are seeing a lot of deer up north despite the incrediable deep snow they had late last winter.Heres a pic of the Silver Ridge buck that Fred shot down along the gulliver deadwater just above his footbridge.Good Hunting and nice talking to you!